Iron worker dies after fall from SoFi Stadium roofESPN
Construction at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, has been shut down after the contractor said an iron worker fell from the roof and died Friday. The stadium will be the new home of the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers and is set to open in August.

Brees stands by apology in response to TrumpESPN
In a message addressed to President Donald Trump on Friday night, Drew Brees stood by his apology for earlier comments on "disrespecting the flag," after Trump wrote that the New Orleans Saints' quarterback should not have changed his stance.

Panthers drop CPI Security after CEO's remarksESPN
The Carolina Panthers have terminated their partnership with Charlotte-based CPI Security, the team announced Saturday night, in the wake of comments by the company's founder and CEO downplaying police brutality against people of color.

Broncos lead Denver protest; Fangio participatesESPN
More than 50 players from the Broncos -- and more than 70 individuals from the team in total -- marched with protesters through downtown Denver, wearing T-shirts that read, "If You Ain't With Us, You Against Us."

Goodell: NFL 'wrong' not to listen to its playersESPN
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell admitted Friday that the league was wrong not to listen to its players earlier concerning racism, systemic oppression and police brutality, and he pledged to do better in the future.

Panthers end relationship with sponsor over racially charged remarksProFootballTalk.com
The Panthers have ended a long-standing sponsorship agreement with a local security company, after the company’s CEO criticized a Charlotte nonprofit which asked for a call to end police brutality. The team announced an end to their sponsorship agre ...

Gary Tanguay: I was wrong to doubt Bill BelichickYahoo! Sports
Gary Tanguay admits he was wrong to question Bill Belichick's silence in the wake of George Floyd's murder, and that he should have known the Patriots head coach would address recent events with his team.

David Cutcliffe is helping Daniel Jones reduce fumblesYahoo! Sports
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones threw 24 touchdown passes as a rookie. Which is very good. He had 18 fumbles. Which is not. In fact, Jones' 18 fumbles were the most by any NFL player since former Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper fumbled 23 times in 20 ...

Jets trying to coax RG Kyle Long out of retirementRotoworld
New York Daily News' Manish Mehta reports the Jets have talked to RG Kyle Long, formerly of the Bears, about coming [...] out of retirement.It's the same approach GM Joe Douglas took last year in persuading Ryan Kalil to get off the couch and return to the field. Long, 31, battled through a lingering hip injury throughout his final season with the Bears before hanging up his cleats in January. He hasn't logged a full 16 games in any campaign over the last four years but has played well (three Pro Bowl berths at two positions) when available. It's currently unclear what the Jets would have to pay Long as an unrestricted free agent after Chicago declined his $9.6 million club option last year.

Kuechly joins Panthers' front office as pro scoutRotoworld
Panthers hired ex-LB Luke Kuechly as pro scout. Still only 29, Kuechly could have returned as one of the best defensive players in [...] the league this season, but he decided to quit while he was ahead when it came to injury. "During the season, it'll be player evaluation and then advance scouting stuff," Kuechly said of his new gig. "So if we play a team next week, we've got to get everything set up and ready to go, so when the coaches come in on Monday, they're not starting from square one." Kuechly has previously expressed an openness to coaching, and this could be just the first of many jobs he has on the other side of the line.

William Jackson played through torn labrum in 2019Rotoworld
Bengals CB William Jackson revealed Thursday that he played through a torn labrum in 2019. "I don't know how I did it, [...] but I did it," Jackson said. "It was painful every game. I'm fully healthy and ready to go." On and off the injury report all season, Jackson sat out Week 17. Jackson did not reveal if he went under the knife, but he would likely still be rehabbing were that the case. Playing under his fifth-year team option, Jackson will be looking to bounce back ahead of free agency after a shaky 2019, one that was undoubtedly affected by his shoulder.

Coaching staffs may return to facilities June 5Rotoworld
The NFL released a memo stating 'Beginning tomorrow, June 5, coaching staffs may be among the employees returning to your [...] facility."Players are still not allowed to be at facilities. The NFL added that coaches and other football staff who may be in a higher risk category are expected to speak with the club medical staff or personal physician about any special precautions.

Player News

9News' Mike Klis reports Broncos QB Drew Lock has been throwing to first-round WR Jerry Jeudy in Denver daily.All signs point to the Broncos' facilities opening to players later this month, but Lock, entering his first full year as the team's starter, has been proactive in gathering a handful of players for throwing sessions at a nearby park the past two weeks. Phillip Lindsay and K.J. Hamler were also spotted participating. There's obviously no guarantee this improves Jeudy's rapport with Lock out the gates, but it's a step in the right direction. Both rookies are expected to start in three-wide sets alongside Courtland Sutton.

The Athletic's Dan Duggan reports Giants QB Daniel Jones is training specifically to increase his ball security this season.Jones' carelessness handling the ball at Duke (19 fumbles across 36 games) carried over into his rookie year off the bench as the 23-year-old recorded a league-high 18 fumbles across 12 starts. Duggan notes that Danny Dimes has since been training with an emphasis on ball security during the offseason, bulking to 230 pounds (up from 221) for a stronger grip, reaching out to Tony Romo (who infamously began his career with ball issues), and diligently working through drills that are designed for tight pocket movement. Jones flashed highs and lows, notably recording four games of 28-plus fantasy points against poor competition, in place of Eli Manning, but any concerted efforts into improving his glaring weakness is a step in the right direction. He's a bet to bounce back as a fringe QB1 for fantasy assuming he survives the Giants' opening murderer's row against the Steelers, in Chicago, versus the Niners, and cross country bout against the Rams.

New Browns OC Alex Van Pelt this week called RB Kareem Hunt's role "something we have to keep growing," according to Cleveland.com. Van Pelt added: "We have to find a way to put the best players on the field and the matchups that will come with that each week, and it will change weekly. Kareem is an extremely talented runner ... and he is exceptional out of the backfield. He is just a football player who loves to play. We have to find ways to get him the ball." Hunt ranked 3rd among all Browns in targets after taking the field last season, trailing only Odell Beckham and Jarvis Landry. He saw just 20.9% of carries, though, vs. Nick Chubb's 69.9% rushing share. Obviously, any further growth to Hunt's opportunities would likely hurt Chubb's, though there's room for these Browns to go more run-heavy overall. Last year's offense went about 60-40 in pass-run split, ranking 18th in the league in passing share. Hunt is intriguing at his current RB30 ADP, going around the 5-6 turn in best-ball drafts. Chubb carries much more risk at his late Round 1 ADP.

Patriots QB Jarrett Stidham said he's been working out with Julian Edelman regularly in Massachusetts during the offseason.Stidham, New England's fourth-round pick last year, only played 15 snaps as a rookie but is still expected to beat out veteran Brian Hoyer as the team's Week 1 starter. While a positive rapport with Edelman doesn't guarantee success under center, it's a step in the right direction following words of encouragement from C David Andrews, RB Rex Burkhead, and other teammates throughout the spring. The 23-year-old and Hoyer will compete to be named the team's starter during camp.

Bucs HC Bruce Arians called '12' personnel his "base offense" on Thursday. ('12' personnel means 1 RB, 2 WRs and 2 TEs.) The Bucs went '12' on 23% of their snaps last season -- the 8th highest rate in the league. Over the past 2 seasons, only 1 team (the 2019 Eagles) has gone '12' on more than 36% of their snaps. We'll buy the Bucs using more 2-TE looks this year after adding Rob Gronkowski to O.J. Howard and Cameron Brate. But don't expect it to be their most common alignment. It's still unlikely that more than 1 of those TEs is a reliable fantasy option. The other result of more 2-TE sets will be more snaps outside the numbers for WR Chris Godwin. That might ding his volume a tad but shouldn't be a big concern overall. Godwin was actually more efficient outside the numbers last season, averaging 2.27 yards per route run vs. 2.22 in the slot.

Browns OC Alex Van Pelt said Baker Mayfield is attempting to "streamline his footwork from under center."“As far as the footwork goes, that’s the part that you can actually coach over the Internet, which is cool,’’ Van Pelt said. “The quarterbacks are sending the videos of their footwork to me. I can now go back, break it down and get on a one-on-one Zoom meeting with them and kind of coach them through the correction process of all the footwork we are going to use.” Van Pelt insists there was nothing seriously wrong with Mayfield's footwork, but that he needed to adjust it for Van Pelt's West Coast system. Van Pelt had previously said Mayfield's footwork led to some accuracy issues in 2019.

Buccaneers coach Bruce Arians when asked about adding free agent RB Devonta Freeman said "If his price tag was reasonable."Arians added, "He's asking for a lot of money and we don't have a lot of money." It's intriguing because the Buccaneers apparently don't view their backfield as complete. Ronald Jones and Ke'Shawn Vaughn are tentatively expected to form a two-RB committee of sorts, but Dare Ogunbowale could easily again function as the offense's pass-down back. Perhaps the Bucs roll the dice with another veteran free agent like Lamar Miller. Meanwhile, Freeman is reportedly willing to skip the 2020 season if he's not compensated enough.

Coach Bruce Arians said 12 personnel will be the Buccaneers' base offense.12 personnel refers to formations featuring two TEs on the field. This would indicate Rob Gronkowski and one of O.J. Howard or Cam Brate should join Chris Godwin, Mike Evans as well as Ronald Jones or Ke'Shawn Vaughn in the starting lineup. The news is a damper on Godwin's hopes of again commanding a large slot role, but he's obviously a good enough talent to still make the most out of his opportunities from the outside. The real question is whether Howard or Brate will be able to rise up and secure a full-time starting role, or if we'll see an annoying committee system for that position. There should still be plenty of three-WR and two-RB sets utilized, but clearly the Bucs are attempting to play to their strengths by leaning into their embarrassment of riches at the TE position.

Raiders WR Henry Ruggs suffered a cut to his thigh while moving things into a trailer recently, his father told AL.com. "He was trying to move a trailer or something -- move furniture or something -- and the trailer just kind of pinned him against a car or a wall or something," Ruggs' father said. "He's pretty much OK ... It was just like a little open wound on his leg, a little incision." A Raiders source tells ESPN's Paul Gutierrez that Ruggs "will be fine." But his father revealed that he's using crutches to get around. We probably won't learn much more about the injury until players are cleared to report to their teams.

Ravens HC John Harbaugh sees more deep passes as the next evolution in QB Lamar Jackson's game. "Those corners are going to be one-on-one and those safeties are going to be one-on-one against receivers, especially on some downfield throws, and we got to make them pay for it. We absolutely have to make them pay," Harbaugh said. "The ability to make them pay for tilting their defense toward stopping our run game with a really, really efficient passing game. I do believe that's the next step of this offense. I really do believe Lamar is going to take the next step." Jackson was already efficient on deep balls last year, posting the league's 6th highest passer rating on throws 20+ yards downfield, according to Pro Football Focus. But he ranked just 19th with 55 pass attempts of 20+ yards. It sounds like Harbaugh wants that number to rise in 2020. Baltimore certainly has the right guys at WR to make that happen. Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin and Devin Duvernay all boast plus speed.

Steelers WR Diontae Johnson told reporters that he played almost his entire rookie season with a groin injury that required surgery this offseason. Johnson got hurt in Week 2. "I was running and it felt like my groin got a little tight on me," he said. He had surgery shortly after the season ended and is expecting to be cleared soon. The fact that he was playing at less than 100% only makes Johnson's rookie season more impressive. He compiled a 59-680-5 line on a Steelers team that ranked 31st in passing yards and 28th in TDs. Johnson is a 2nd-year breakout candidate if he gets improved QB play from a healthy Ben Roethlisberger.

The Jets have signed QB Joe Flacco to a 1-year deal. It's worth $1.5 million with another $3 million available through incentives. Flacco is still recovering from April neck surgery and isn't expected to be cleared until "mid-September," according to ESPN's Jeremy Fowler. A healthy Flacco should slide in as QB Sam Darnold's backup. Darnold has dealt with a sprained foot, mono, a toe injury and another foot injury through 2 NFL seasons.

The Seahawks have signed RB Carlos Hyde to a 1-year deal. That follows reports that Seattle had offered RB Devonta Freeman a contract, so the team was clearly looking to add to its backfield. Hyde played surprisingly well in Houston last year, averaging 4.4 yards per carry on 245 attempts. He ranked 32nd in Elusive Rating and 10th in Pro Football Focus' rushing grades among 45 RBs with 100+ carries. Hyde is solid insurance behind RBs Chris Carson (hip) and Rashaad Penny (ACL), who are both recovering from serious injuries. Carson is expected to be ready for Week 1, but Penny isn't. We'd expect Hyde to open the season as Seattle's #2 RB, although his arrival does add some downside to Carson's 2020 fantasy outlook.

Falcons TE Hayden Hurst told ESPN's Mina Kimes that he's been making the 5-hour drive from Jacksonville to Atlanta to catch passes from QB Matt Ryan for the past 4 weeks. "That's helping me a lot," Hurst said. "That's really going to pay off during training camp." Acquired from the Ravens in March, Hurst hasn't been able to get any official workouts in with his new team due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But any chemistry he can build with his QB is good news for his 2020 fantasy outlook. Hurst as TE1 upside this season as he replaces Austin Hooper, who averaged 6.4 targets per game over the last 2 seasons.